Images from Bunker Hill and other parts of Downtown Los Angeles including theDisney Concert Hall, California Plaza, Wells Fargo Center and other skyscrapers, and19th and early 20th century architecture such as the Bradbury Building, the Central Library,Union Station (the last great train station built in the US), and other Los Angeles Architecture.

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The Banner below leads to the LA Architecture and Public Art Collection (6 Galleries).

These six galleries contain 250 images of LA Architecture and Public Art.

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I really like the overlay of the 1920s Biltmore Hotelover the modern Gas Company skyscraper. I haveseveral versions of this image (different seasons).

The Biltmore has both a striking exterior and anexquisitely beautiful interior. The ceilings in theGalleria were hand-painted by Smeraldi (1922),who also worked in the Vatican and White House.

Biltmore Street Lamp 1820

Frescoes and murals, travertine walls andcrystal chandeliers, marble fountains and otheraccouterments of stately architecture abound inthe Biltmore. The Ballroom frescoes of Greekand Roman gods and mythological creatureswere created over a period of 7 months, andwere restored in the 1980s by Smeraldi’sapprentice. The lobby floor is a marvel.

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The Millennium Biltmore Hotel (1923) wasthe largest hotel west of Chicago at the time.It was built in Spanish-Italian Renaissance stylewith Beaux Arts (Neoclassical) influences.

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The largest hotel in Los Angeles, theBonaventure (1976) is used as a locationfor many film and television productions, aswell as corporate meetings and conventions.

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An architectural landmark of downtown Los Angeles, the Bradbury Building (1893)is on Broadway at the base of Bunker Hill. The interior is an enormous central court lit bya huge skylight, adorned with filigreed ornamental cast-iron and wrought-iron, tile and marble,and has exposed cage elevators housed in wrought-iron shafts. The wrought-iron was displayedat the Chicago World’s Fair before being installed in the building (it was manufactured in France).

The Bradbury has been featured in many films, including Blade Runner, Double Indemnity,I the Jury, Wolf, Murphy’s Law, Chinatown, and many other film and television productions.It is quite probably the most recognizable interior space in the City of Los Angeles.

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The dark entrance passes the first stairwaywith ornamental wrought-iron railings and opensinto the brightly lit central court, seen above.

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Beyond the stairway you can see one of theopen-cageworks for the elevators on each sideof the court. Below are detail shots of the cages.

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Originally developed in the late 19th centurywith Victorian houses for the elite, Bunker Hillnow is the site of the dominant skyscrapersin Los Angeles (and Disney Concert Hall).

The acute angles of the Wells Fargo and KPMG Towers create dramatic images.These angles are exploited in some of the shots displayed further down on this page.This image was taken from the YMCA courtyard, across Hope Street from the complex.

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On the opposite side of the Wells Fargo Towersare the twin California Plaza Towers.

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These blue glass and steel towers wereBOMA Buildings of the Year in 1997 and 2001.

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The building shown above is the 750 foot tallTwo California Plaza (One stands 578 ft. tall, and.connects to the Museum of Contemporary Art).

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The Plaza was completed in 1992, during aslump in downtown real estate, and theplanned third tower was never built.

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California Plaza, shot from the Pershing Square escalator.

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This pool stands between the Omni Hotel and MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art).One California Plaza forms the background at the end of the tree-lined courtyard.

The Banner below leads to the LA Architecture and Public Art Collection (6 Galleries).

These six galleries contain 250 images of LA Architecture and Public Art.

Gas Company 4139

The elevator shafts and roof, called the “Ship”because of its shape, were used in “Speed”.

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The two skyscrapers hover over the muchsmaller 12-story Biltmore Hotel at the far left.

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The Library Tower is the 10th tallest building in the USA and the 40th tallest in the world.The current official name is the US Bank Tower, but everyone still calls it the Library Tower.The tower rises 73 stories (1018 feet) and is across the street from the Central Library, whichwas rebuilt after the disastrous fires of 1986 in part by selling the “air rights” to the developerof the Library Tower in 1989 as part of the $1 Billion Central Library Redevelopment Plan.

The Banner below leads to the LA Architecture and Public Art Collection (6 Galleries).

These six galleries contain 250 images of LA Architecture and Public Art.

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City Hall 1861

Los Angeles City Hall (1928) is the tallest base-isolated structure in the world, and can withstand an 8.2 earthquake. The design was based on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and was made famous by “Superman” and “Dragnet”.

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The LA Central Library was completed in 1926and was designed with Egyptian influences.

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I simply could not resist shooting this(it also offers an elegant play on words).

One of the black veined Belgian marble sphinxesguarding the approach to the Statue of Civilization.

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The mosaic dome by Julian E. Garnsey (1932), and the 2000 pound chandelier in the Rotunda.

The Central Library suffered two disastrous fires in 1986, destroying almost 400,000 volumes.The fire in April 1986 (set by arsonists) was the greatest structural fire in Los Angeles history.The Library was rebuilt with funds raised in the $1 Billion Central Library Redevelopment Plan.

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The building housing the Million Dollar Theater(one of the first movie palaces in the US, 1918)also houses the Grand Central Apartments.

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The ornate facade over the entrance.The building is directly across the streetfrom the Bradbury Building (seen earlier).

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Completed in 1938, Central Plaza is sort of a Hollywood version of Shanghai.

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The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,completed in 2002 to replace the St. VibianaCathedral, LA’s last remaining 19th c. building,which was damaged in the 1994 earthquake.(Vibiana is now an event space and arts center).

The post-modern structure designedby Rafael Moneo has no right angles.

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The statue stands above the bronze doors. It wascreated by the famous LA sculptor Robert Graham.

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Union Station was built on the site of the original LA Chinatown, across the street from thehistoric Olvera Street (part of the original Pueblo, the oldest part of downtown Los Angeles).

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Called the “Last of the Great Railway Stations”, it was completed in 1939 and has beenused in numerous films and television shows. It was designed by the same architects whodesigned City Hall and many other landmark LA buildings. With the construction of the newMetro Rail system, Union Station is once again a heavily visited facility in Downtown LA.

The Banner below leads to the LA Architecture and Public Art Collection (6 Galleries).

These six galleries contain 250 images of LA Architecture and Public Art.